Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more

Download & Play

Questions

Newspaper Page Text

JEKYLL AND HYDE
LIFE OF SCHMIDT
TRACED BY WRITER
Dorothy Dix Says That New York Crime That Now
Shocks the Country Is Similar to That Commit
ted Year Ago by Rev. Clarence V. T. Richeson
! , -NEW YORK. Sept. 20.—Just about a year ago the country was
...shoclced and amazed by the announcement that the Rev. Clarence V. T.
.Richeson, the pastor of a fashionable church in Brookline, Ma=s had mur
dered a young girl—Avis Linnell.
■ . today we realize with horror that the slayer of the girl, parts of
'whose body were found floating in the Hudson river, is a minister—Hans
Schmidt, who lias been officiating at , ♦— .
St. Joseph's church.
*. The - two murders are singularly
*:mi?ar. * Both, are what the French
betrayed innocent young girls, and
;f>dth murdered their victims when
•degradation from their high calling
threatened the men.
And both men. Judas-like, killed
with a kiss the women who still
trusted them in spite of all that had
gone, before. Richeson. with his own
hand, gave to the girl he had so
hasely deceived the medicine that was
her death draft. Schmidt stole into
the room in which his victim slept
peacefully and unafraid, and eut%ier
JUSTICE SWIFT AND SIRE
lion to throw suspicion off of the
right scent, and to evade discovery.
t*e culprit.
And the universal surprise and hor
ror excited by the fact that these two
< rimes were committed by men who
and narrow path of righte-
Few more brutal crimes ever have
h'een committed than the murder of
"the, Au'muller girl, fragments of
_ J.ctwild"' have committed such a deed,
'.;./v}rat' ;he could have gone with his
"•hands "still stained with blood to min
"fstec hefore the altar, and listen with
..hfs-:sin- burdened soul to the conff !
.. Ktory'.as weird and sensuous as any
"thinsg"De ,; Maupassant ever imagined.
:,W "THE WAGI"> Ol' Sl\"
• Church* there was a pretty maid. as>
•.•■'sVstant to. the housekeeper, named
curves of that body that even in its
dismembered state showed classical
one to note the romance of the clergy
man and the pretty maid servant.
I.ED STRA.XUE Dl AL UK
Finally Anna Aumuller left the
parish liouse. She was going to be
come a mother, and she demanded
that, cleric or no cleric, the father of
her child should marry her. and he
went through a stiange mockery of
the ceremony that his church holds
to b*e a sacrament, never to he broken
or Violated. He took out a license at
the 'city hall in his and the girl's
right names, and then, telling her
thaf he was a clergyman and so per
mitted to perform the mariage cere
mony, he did it himself. Then he
rented a little fiat in Bradhurst ave
nue, in Harlem, and they furnished it
meagerly and went to housekeeping.
It was a strange dual life the man'
led. serving In the church by day as
FaJ-her Schmidt, wearing the sacred
vestments of his calling, and at night,
clothed iin civilian attire, slipping
to the apartment where he was known
as A. -Van-Dyke. This secret life in
the new home had gone on only for a
little while when he determined to
kill the girl.
Perhaps he was driven to It by fear
of the exposure that was almost
bound to come when the child was
horn. Perhaps it was the result of a
strange mixture of love and jealousy
and conscience. His tortured soul no
longer would let him indulge his pas
sion, and yet he could not bear to
give her up and perhaps see her go to
another.
BLAMES ST. ELIZABETH
Or it may have been some strange
■striving of his religion in him. At
any rate, he made up his mind to slay
the girl arid to dismember the body j
so that It could not, as he thought, be
identified, and he set about making
tion.
J-Te went from where he lived
to buy a knife and a saw with which
to do his deadly work. Then he went
-imo the room while the girl slept and
Fort Lee ferry and dropped them
overboard into the river.
a'utely cunning and already preparing
•*'■- its defense a plea of insanity to
stand between it and the electric
It is a far cry from the Garden of
Allah, with its palms, its Mood flow
ers and its exotic atmosphere, to the
mean Ijjttle apartment in Bradhurst
avenue in Harlem, but the human
heart knows neither time nor piace.nor
•avironment, and In this squalid tene
DOROTHY DIX
ment there was enacted passion for
v -. ion, the very same drama, moved
v the same impulses, that Robert
depicts in his sensuous ro-
PSYCHOLOGY INEXPLICABLE
In -The Garden of Allah" the hero
s a priest who has been faithless to
is vows, and fallen in love with a
woman and married her, but although
be loves and he is loved as few men
•aye been, the enormity of his sin is
so heavy upon him that he can never
forget it for an instant and is tor
ortured by it day and night.
iy lie i« driven by it to con
sion, and his wife, great souled and
reverent, sends him from her back to
us duty, to win through penitence
arid pennance forgiveness for having
Melded to temptation.
Remaps this other erring minister
also was tortured by remorse for his
broken rows and that the woman he
loved was no t strong enough to send
him away from her. but clung to him
t r b W t ak " nel . pleM arms and then,
Between tue two sins, he com
—that % S ' n sreater ,na n either
vi tue psychology of such a mur
aer is past explaining. Father
liraun, whose curate Sclimidt was
when he first came to New Tork
says that Schmidt was of all people
le***!* *Jw known - ,rior e of a Dr.
i ..n<i Mr. Hyde, with an expres
« ii i * piety one moment and of
nenolsb malignity the next.
Certainly the man must have had a
dual personality, who was not only
priest and murderer, but who loved
a woman well enough to jeopardize
l.ls prosperity in this world and his
salvation in the next for her—and
. et could kill her with his own hand,
and cut up, without the quiver of a
muscle, the soft body that had lain
in Ills arms, and cast it into the river.
Baca people must always be the
Popular Prices for
Grand Opera Season
Prices which will prevail during the
opera season opening at the Tivoli
October € have been announced by the
\a estern Metropolitan Opera company.
as :>een decided to have the season
at popular prices, ranging from 50
cents to $2 for seats and $3 for box
Season subscriptions fo r boxes and
scats have been opened, one for 25
performances being $500 and 50 per
formances $1,000. Boxes are transfer
able. Season subscriptions for seats
have been planned with a coupon sys.
lea, hy which a book good for 20 $2
seats will be sold for $26. and .".0 cou
pons good for 30 $2 seats for $54.
Coupon holders will have the right of
the first selection of seats for every
~^^_r enMon -;
SPANISH WAR VETERANS
TO GIVE DANCE FOR 1915
For the purpose of raising funds to
entertain members of the order dur
ing 1915 a committee of the auxll
iai i".- to the United Spanish War Vet
erans will give a dance at the Ger
man House on October J*
HUERTA MAY
BREAK UP
CONGRESS
MEXICO CITY, Sept. 20.—President
Huerta today threatened to dissolve
congress and postpone the national
election, unless the chamber of derj
ties confirmed his appointment of
Senor Tamarlz to the ministry of
public instruction. In a message,
Huerta declared that he had reforms
ln mind for the enlightenment of the
people, and he felt confident that
Tamariz is better suited than any
other man to carry them out.
The recall of Felix Diaz was de-.
clared to be a shrewd political move
on Huerta's part. It is reported that
Huerta will appoint Diaz foreign min
ister to succeed Senor Gamboa. Un
der the constitution, a president of
Mexico cannot succeed himself. If
Diaz is appointed foreign minister and
Huerta resigns to be a candidate for
r--c]eetion. Diaz would succeed to the
president's chair in the interim.
Consequently Diaz could not be
elected president, because he could
not legally succeed himself. Huerts
could be elected and could constitu
tionally take his place in the national
A stormy session of the Catholic
party is looked for tomorrow, when
its convention will be held here.
1 . S. FAVORS I>E I.A RARRE
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 —The ad
[ ministration policy regarding the
elections in Mexico is tending to
crystallize to the point where only
'an actual constitutional election will
be acceptable to the United States.
TIU& meaps the elimination not
only of Huerta, bat of Huerta influ
ence in Mexican administration. So
far l'<-llx Diaz, the Huerta protege,
is the only announced candidate.
Francisco de la Barre. former ambas
sador to the United States, would be'
welcomed to the presidency by this
government if there were any chance
of his election.
State Department officials realise
xiii- SAIn IKAjsuLbCO CALL, bAILiiDAV, bLr Tj-Jilii-K 20, 11)13.
Hans Schmidt Man of Mystery,
And Anna Aumuller, Girl He Killed
FIVE KILLED
BY CHICAGO
EXPLOSION
CHICAGO, Sept. "o.—Five, possibly
six. men were killed outright and
several others were hurt this after
noon In a terrlfflc explosion which
destroyed part of the molding house
in the Deeririg branch plant of the
International Harvester works. Calls
were sent out by the officials of the
plant for fifteen ambulances.
Metal wan being poured into a
large mold when an explosion shook
the entire plant. Four men were
standing within a few feet of the
mold. Dozens were working in that
part of the shop.
A sheet of liquid metal spurted
from the mold. The explosion
wrecked the big furnace. The east
wall of the molding room crumbled.
Many of the workmen escaped. Oth
ers ran wildly out of the building,
their hair partly burned away and
their clothing ablaze.
ADOLPH SUTRO TO TRY
FOR AVIATION RECORDS
Adolph Sutro Jr. will try for paß
senger carrying records in aviation
tomorrow morning off the exposition
site, taking as passengers Arthur A.
Knapp and Stewart Dodge. He hopes
to land world's records for altitude,
distance, duration, vvelght lifting and
speed. Sutro designed his own
hydroplane
they have a difficult task in sitting
in Judgment on the Mexican elec
tions.
REEL'GEES l\ LOS AMiEI.ES
LOS ANGELES, Fept. 20. —Delayed
by a fog at sea. the United States
gunboat Yorktown. carrying many of
the American refugees from Mexico,
who were ordered out of Mexico by
Secretary of State Bryan recently, ar
rived at the Los Angeles harbor to
day.
Twin Peaks Tunnel,
Says City Engineer,
Can Not Be Reduced
O'Shaughnessy Opposes Larscn's
Plan to Place Terminal at
Laguna Honda Station
City Engineer O'Shaughnessy op
poses Carl G. Larson's plan to reduce
the length and cost of the proposed
Twin Peaks tunnel by placing the
terminal at the Laguna Honda sta
tion on Dewey boulevard. Larsen,
whose property in the western drstrict
Is assessed to the extent of $60,444,
appeared before the supervisors' lands
and tunnels committee and ad\'ocated
cutting down the tunnel by 3,000 feet,
which he estimated would reduce the
cost by or.e-third, or $1,300,000.
O'Shaughnessy replied that the
scheme was not new, that it had
been considered by Bion J. Arnold
and himself, and discarded because it
would make the grade prohibitive for
rapid transit. He presented other ob
jections from an engineering stand
point and the committee took the
matter under advisement until next
Friday's meeting.
Alcazar Show for
Recreation League
For the benefit of the Recreation
league's social center work, the pro
ceeds of the regular performance of
"Our Wives," at the Alcazar will be
turned over to the direction of that
organization.
Many club women and others are
interesting themselves in the success
of the evening and a number of the
ater parties will be given. Among
those who will act as patrons and pa
tronesses are:
Mayor ami Mrs. Rolph. Mr. and Mrs. Jesae
W. Lilieutlial. Mr. and Mm. Henry I'ayot. Mr.
and Mra. William Frlea, Mr. and Mra. M. A.
Mr. ami Mra. Leon Sloaa. Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph Sadoc Tobln, Mr. and Mra. Robert L
Rentier. Mr. and Mra. William Crocker. Mr.
and Mrs. I. N. Walter. Mr. and Mra. J. J.
Oottleib, Mr. and Mrs. M. .1. Brandenatein. Mr.
and Mra. E. 8. Heller. Mr. and Mr«. W. P.
Unmmon. Miss Alice tJrlfftth. Mra. K. P.
Hooker, Mica Generlcr* King, Mra. Phoebe A.
Hearst, Mra. John F. Merrill, Bopbaal Weill,
Dr, A. A. d'Ancona.
BRYAN WILL
NOT CEASE
SPEAKING
WASHINGTON. Sept. 20. —Declaring |
that he has not altered his plans and ,
that he intends to lecture -whenever
he deems it desirable or necessary,
Secretary of State Hrya*n today issued
the following statement:
"This evening is the last of the
Chautauqua lectures" for this season, j
The total income from the Chautau- |
qua lectures this year is a little morel
than $7,000. The net receipts, after j
taking out expenses, are somewhat j
over $6,500. The number of whole |
weekdays which have been used for!
the lectures Is, according to my recol
lection, seven. The remainder of the I
lectures were delivered at places near j
enough to Washington to enable me
"I wouJd not assume that the public
was interested In these details were
it not for the fact that the represen
tatives- of a few of the newspapers
have regarded them as a matter of
great importance.
"The criticism that Mas been di
rected against my lecturing is no
more bitter than that which I have
encountered during other times, and
for other things during my connec
tion with politics. No man should
enter public life if he objects to crit
icism, ami he can not stay in public
life if he permits criticism to turn
him from doing what he thinks to be
right.
"He must decide his duty for him
self, and be answerable to the pub
lic for any mistakes that he wakes. I
regard lecturing as an entirely legiti
mate field. I lectured before I was
nominated for president. I lectured
between campaigns. I shall continue
to lecture and I ."hall not believe that
any person whose opinion is worth
having will think the less of me for
so doing.
"This closes the lecture subject for
the present."
Struck by Streetcar
and Skull Fractured
Struck by a McAllister streetcar at
Van Ness avenue, George Newsom.
assistant business manager of the
Building Trades eoancil. yesterday
sustained a fracture of the skull,
concussion of the brain and internal
injuries. Motorman John J. Carroll
was arrested.
' H
FOR TAX COLLECTOR
J. O. LOW
The candidate is the in=
cumbent of the oliicc. He
has been endorsed by both
Republican and Democratic
parties.
All observers o{ public af
fairs are unanimous in their
praise ol Mr. Low s Adminis
tration ol the very important
ollice and urge his election.
"I'LL FIGHT
FOR LIFE,"
SCHMIDT
Slayer Now Terror Stricken
by His Fear of Death
Chair
NEW YORK. Sept. 20.— Suddenly
abandoning his air or resignation and
martyrdom, Hans Schmidt, tbe sup
posedly mad priest who confessed
murdering Anna Aumuller, declared
in the tombs that he would fight for
his life.
For the first time a look of terror
came into the prisoner's eyes at a
mention of the death chair, and
while exercising in the corridor
Schmidt confided to a fellow pris
oner:
"I will flght for my life. If Dis
trict Attorney Whitman expects t to
get anything out of me he will find
himself up against a stone wall."
However, on account of Schmidt's er
ratic mental condition, sudden change
of attitude with revelations of more
ghastly crimes would not surprise the
police.
When Schmidt was asked about a
confession he is alleged to have made
yesterday relative to Euthanasia, he
shrugged his soulders and refused to
talk. One of the beliefs of Schmidt's
disordered mind Is in the doctrine of
painless death for cripples or persons
who suffer. The police believe that
if Schmidt had not been arrested he
would be dealing in wholesale mur
der.
Schmidt intended to make a begin
ning in his dreadful work among the
parishioners of St. Joseph's church,
where he was assistant rector. In
order to dispose of his victims
Schmidt had stolen a book of death
certificates from a physician, ana
these were to have been forged.
GBR- f_ \ISS Ml RET
LONDON, Sept. 20. —Vera Harris,
the young girl who is believed by the
police to be married tv Dr. Ernst
Muret, the New York criminal in
volved with Hans Schmidt, the rene
gade churchman, was found today.
She is employed in the dressmaking
department of a big west end estab
lishment owned by Bourne and Hol
lingsworth. She has t*en living un
der the name of Vera Harman re
cently.
"I believe that I had a narrow es
cape from the same fate as Anna
Aumuller in New York," said the girl, i
"I fear Dr. Muret and am afraid to
say anything against him."
BELIEVES SCHMIDT HOCH'S KIN
CHICAGO, Sept. 20.—That Hans
Schmidt, renegade clergyman of New i
York, was a near relative, possibly a
brother of Johann Hoch, slayer of
four wives in Chicago, who was exe
cuted in 1903, was the statement to
day of Isidor Plotke, attorney
defended Hoch.
• My belief is based on the actions
of Schmidt as related in the news
papers," said the" attorney. "Hoch's j
real name was John Jacob Schmidt."
Gasoline Prices Do
Not Affect Tractors
George L. Shields, local manager of
the Rumley Products company, de
clares that the. published statement to
the effect that the present price of
gasoline has made it impossible for
his company to sell gasoline tractors
does not apply to its oil pull tractors,
for the reason that these machines
are operated, not with gasoline, but
with what is left after the gasoline
has beea extracted from the oil.
"As a matter of fact." he says, "the
Rumley company's growth is due to
the success of its oil pull tractors
operating on kerosenes and other
cheap fuel oils. The company's busi
ness is in an exceptionally satisfac
tory condition."
IN THE BOOK DEPARTMENT
CROWDS
A Book for the Individual,
GERALD STANLEY LEE.
"THE MEN'S FURNISHING DEPART
MENT Is showing-d most extensive stock
of Autianin neckwear, also batfi robes,
.dressing gowns, sweaters, caps, scares and
motor robes.
A specialty is made of shirts to ori&pt.
Prices $4 to $20, according tr* tfe* materia!
used,
20,000 WALK
IN GAYNOR
CORTEGE
Two Ex-Presidents and Other
Noted Persons to Follow
Body to Cemetery
NEW YORK. Sept. 20.—The family
of the late William J. Gaynor, mayor
of New York, today surrendered his
body to the custody of the city and
it will lie in state in city hall until
the public funeral services Monday,
after which it will be interred in
Greenwood cemetery, Brooklyn.
For the next 48 hours there will be
a succession of honors of the highest
and most impressive order paid the
memory of the dead executive.
The private services today at the
Gaynor home were conducted by Rev.
Dr. Frank W. Page, an Episcopal pas
tor and a brother of Thomas Nelson
Page, the novelist. In addition to
members of the Gaynor family only a
few intimate friends were present.
These included Robert Adamson, the
mayor's secretary; Police Lieutenant
Kennell. and Dock Commissioner
Smith.
OVERFLOW SKR\If E PROVIDED
It is estimated that more than 20,
--000 persons will march in the cortege.
On account of the general demand for
admission tickets to Trinity church,
it has been decided to hold an over
flow service in St. Paul's church.
Mayor Gaynor's. body will lie in
state at the foot of the stairway in
the rotunda of the city hall guarded
night and day by a death watch of
firemen and policemen..
While the ser\ices Monday will
have no military features, both the
United States army and navy, as' well
as the government, will be repre
sented. Among the representatives
of the army and navy will be Major
General Barry, commander of the de
partment of the east, U. S. A.; Cap
tain Glass, U. S. N.. representing the
commander of the Brooklyn navy
yard; Rear lAdm'ral Wlnslow, com
mander-in-chief of the North Atlan
tic fleet; Major General J. F. O'Ryan.
commander of the New York state
national guard. '
ENGLAND TO BE REPRFM'ATKD
The British consul will represent
the English government at the Trin
ity services.
All of the officials of the city will
be present among the mourners', a*j
well as two former presidents of the
United States. William H. Taft and
Theodore Roosevelt.
MISS C. GRIFFITH
KILLED BY TRAIN
Miss Caroline Lord Griffith of San
Francisco, daughter of the late Cap
tain Millen Griffith, was killed by a
freight train at Pieasanton yester
day!
Miss Griffith had heen visiting at
the home of her brother, Charles
Griffith, which is near the station,
and about 11:30 o'clock in the morn
ing, as was her custom, started for a
walk. She was alone at the time of
the accident.
She was a native of San Francisco
and has lived here and in, Ross valley,
the family home having been for
many years in the exclusive circle on
Rlncon hill.
Her father was one of the pioneers
and founded the first tug boat serv
ice. Her mother was Miss Jane Lord,
a member of the New York family.
Edward L. Griffith, whose death oc
curred abroad several years ago. was
a brother, and she is survived'by her
sisters, Mrs. James Wilcox of Phila
delphia. Miss Alice Griffith of this
city and her brother, Charles Griffith
of Pieasanton.
Last year Miss Griffith and her sis
ter. Miss Alice Griffith, completed a
handsome home at the top of the Pa
cific avenue hill.
Arrangements for the funeral have
not been made.
3